Located in the Dallas suburb of Richardson, Binnerri Presbyterian Church is one of the oldest and largest Korean American Churches in Texas. Hosting three services every Sunday, the day begins with a more traditional format that includes choir and mostly spoken word, and then concludes with a youth-oriented gathering complete with guitar, bass, and drums. Each gathering fills the worship center with nearly 600 faithful – some of whom have been worshiping in Binnerri’s sanctuary for almost 30 years.

Recently the church’s aging sanctuary underwent a major remodeling that included a full redo of the audio, video lighting systems. Designed and installed by Auburn, Virginia-based Genesis Technology, the new, fully modern AV system is centered around VUE’s al-4 Subcompact Line Array System.

According to Michael Yoo, Sr. System Engineer with Genesis Technology, the biggest challenge at Binnerri was the room’s unusually wide listening area. “It’s an extremely wide and shallow room at nearly 170 feet and just over 50 feet from the stage to the front of the balcony. There is pew seating throughout, with rows at both the far left and far right of the stage. From an audio perspective, it’s essentially a 200-degree room.”

Adding to the acoustical challenge is a very reflective stage area, with a brick back wall, and hardwood flooring that was a last-minute replacement for the carpet specified in the original design.

Needing a turnkey solution that would offer ample coverage in the unusual space, with the versatility to deliver a wide variety of source material, Yoo identified the al-4 line array as the best balance of output and control in a compact format. “The VUE line arrays, with their beryllium high frequency, are easily the best sounding loudspeakers on the market. Plus, they’re a very honest and easy to mix on, which is critical with an all-volunteer audio staff every week.”

There was still the challenge of coverage. Luckily, a quick phone call to VUE’s VP of Sales, Jeff Taylor, revealed a fortunate coincidence of timing. The company was looking for a field test opportunity for a soon-to-be-released, wide dispersion al-4 element. VUE Design Chief Michael Adams made special arrangements for Genesis to receive 16 advance prototypes.

Binnerri’s new system features left and right al-4W (Wide dispersion) arrays of eight elements each. The perfectly symmetrical and extremely compact al-4 elements each combine two four-inch woofers with VUE’s Truextent beryllium compression driver mounted to a new, 120 x 90-degree horn. A pair of VUEDrive V4 Systems Engines provides all power and processing for the array.

“Coverage is really great with no dead spots at all, even at the far left and right or under the balcony area. The VUE system went up easily and required virtually no tweaking – exactly as the Ease Focus model predicted. And the sound quality is just amazing. There’s nothing out there that sounds as good as VUE’s beryllium high end. It handles anything we throw at it with perfect transparency.”

The all-VUE system also includes a selection of ultra low profile i-2×4.5 full range systems for front fill and under-balcony delays, and a full monitoring system comprised of VUE a-10 two-way boxes. A pair of Crown XTI amplifiers power the for i-2×4.5 and a-10 systems, while a Midis Pro 3 console with VUE i-6As as monitors handle the mix. An optional in-ear system is on hand to help dampen on-stage slapback during more lively performances.

“I really love working with VUE,” concluded Yoo. “Their systems sound amazing and are very predictable. We always get a great result. And the company is so supportive as well. Simply making a phone call and having a totally new solution on your doorstep in a matter of days is nearly unheard of today. When it comes to service, VUE just gets it.”